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is set to receive the 2021 Health Care Leader Award from the American Academy of Nursing (Academy). The award recognizes her incredible impact in shaping health policy. It will be presented during the , Healthy Lives for All People: Advancing Equity, Science, and Trust, being held in a hybrid format October 7-9, 2021.

Created in 2008, the Health Care Leader Award recognizes an influential national leader dedicated to improving the health of the nation through contributions to organizational excellence. “Dr. Villarruel is an invaluable leader who understands how health is achieved and the pivotal role nurses play in promoting it,” said Academy President Eileen Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Her career has demonstrated her profound dedication to improving community wellness by launching programs of research and centers, as well as serving as a leader and advisor to the federal government and countless organizations. I am thrilled to present her with the Academy’s Health Care Leader Award.”

About Dean Villarruel

Villarruel, PhD, RN FAAN, is the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing and Director of the School’s WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership. As a bilingual and bicultural researcher, Villarruel has extensive research and practice experience with Latino populations, health promotion, and disparities. She currently co-leads the NIH funded Philadelphia Community Engagement Alliance to address COVID-19 Inequities (CEAL) a coalition to optimize the rollout and real-time evaluation of interventions focused on COVID-19 disparities across diverse populations within the Philadelphia region.

Villarruel holds many leadership positions. She is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; she serves as Chair of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Culture of Health Program Advisory Committee, Chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows Subcommittee for the Selection Review Process and Co-chair of the Strategic Advisory Council of the AARP/RWJ Future of Nursing Campaign for Action. She is also founder of the CDC-implemented program, ¡Cuídate!, designated as an Academy Edge Runner, which aims to reduce risky sexual behavior among Latino adolescents

She has received numerous honors and awards including the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame Award, the Globy Award for Educational Leadership from the Global Philadelphia Association, and the prestigious Ohtli Award from the government of Mexico.

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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing  

 is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing. For the sixth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University. In a first for any undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in the country, our BSN program is ranked # 1 in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings. Penn Nursing is also consistently ranked highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools and is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: , , , &.